I get my knitted grey cells around the legend of the ‘boyfriend curse’ and other stitching superstitions.

Dear Gerty

I have heard tell that it’s bad luck to knit for my other half and stitching a sweater for him will hail the end of our relationship. He wants me to knit him a nice chunky knit aran. I can’t see the harm in it. Should I go ahead? Where did this curse come from? And are there other knitting no nos I should know about?

Superstitious of Streatham

Dear Superstitious, dearie me. How on earth you function in the real world full of black cats and ladders you might walk under is beyond me.

The Boyfriend Curse is well known to all seasoned knitters.

One dark night back in the 60s a young couple, a knitter and her beloved boyfriend, stopped along the M1 motorway to pick up a hitchhiker. The hiker was a silent yet twitchy man. He barely said a word as he climbed into the back seat. It was hot in the car with the heater running. The boyfriend, getting sweaty, removed his coat to cool off, revealing the lovingly crafted but utterly vile jumper that his girlfriend had spent months slaving over her needles to create. So disgusted was the hitcher by this display of handknit horror that it set off a homicidal rage.

The handknit horror

Nothing was found at the scene except a pair of scissors, pools of sticky blood and fragments of the hideous jumper.

Superstitious, is it really worth risking death by scissor-wielding maniac for an aran sweater?

I think not.

And as for other myths I can help dispel some now:

Stabbing your needles though your yarn balls brings bad luck to anyone who wears something made from that yarn.
“What the…?!?! It’ll bring you bad luck if I catch you doing it!! What the hell are you thinking! shakes with rage

If you knit one of your own hairs into a garment, it will bind the recipient to you.
Knitting your own hair into a garment is something that’s just a hazard with long hair. If you do want to see if it works don’t go too far or you may end up completely bald. Not a look that is going to bind anyone to you, I fear.

Don’t stop knitting when you are only on the cast-on row, or the project will never be finished.
Lightweight! It’s one row! Where’s your knitting backbone!? Finish that row! Lazy swine!

Never hand knitting needles to a friend as they can stab the friendship. Put them down and let the friend pick them up.
Are your needles wooden? Is your friend a vampire? Unless the answer to both these questions is yes, then what’s a little stabbing accident between friends? Helps relieve the tension too. We can’t all get along all the time. Stab away, my dears, stab away.